Austin Dillon will lead the field to the green flag in tonight's XFINITY race in the capital of Virginia. The driver of the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet scored the pole for the Virginia 529 College Savings 250 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Richmond International Raceway after posting a time of 22.563 and a speed of 119.665 mph.
When asked to rate his season on a scale of 1 to 10, Austin Dillon gave himself a 6.5/10. Speaking to the media earlier this afternoon at Richmond International Raceway, Dillon was asked to rate his season on a scale of 1 to 10.
Casey Mears topped the chart in final Sprint Cup Series practice at Richmond International Raceway. The driver of the No. 13 Germain Racing Chevrolet was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 22.396 and a speed of 120.557 mph.
A funny thing happened on the way to Richmond. Ryan Newman finished eighth at Darlington, got to within seven points of Jamie McMurray in the battle for the final Chase place, and then it hit the fan.
A classic. That is what the Southern 500 is. Born in 1950, it predates NASCAR’s jewel events in Indianapolis, Bristol, Talladega, Charlotte, and Daytona. It is the Southern 500, the Labor Day classic at Darlington.
Who is the greatest country singer ever associated with NASCAR? There has been Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow, Brad Paisley, Brooks and Dunn, Hank Williams Jr., Toby Keith, Cledus T. Judd, and lately Blake Shelton. That is a pretty impressive list of talent and it is far from complete. However, there is no question that the King of NASCAR Country was Marty Robbins.
At Michigan on Sunday, Kyle Larson punched his ticket with the first Cup win of the 24-year old driver’s career. To say he was pumped would have been an understatement as he jumped into the arms of his crew with checkered flag in hand.
Michigan. A big track, a fast track. Sadly, not exactly a legacy event, like winning at Daytona or Bristol or Talladega or Indianapolis or Darlington or either road course. What it is, is a track where legends have celebrated since 1969. In fact, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Bill Elliott, Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin, Richard Petty, Dale Jarrett, and Bobby Allison have combined for 46 victories there. That is a lot of suds for a lot of Hall of Famers.
However, Bristol did bring good tidings to some. It was great for Kevin Harvick, as he won his second of the season in a dominant performance to once again vault ahead of them all in points. While wins determine who is ahead of whom, as it should, accumulated points is an indicator as to who has been in contention all season long. Harvick has been one of those guys.
BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Austin Dillon wasn't in the dominant car of the night nor near the front most of the night, but he was in front when it counted and he scored the victory at Thunder Valley.
